


Kiss Me Under The Artificial Lighting

by IknewIhadit



Category: Eddsworld - All Media Types
Genre: Author Is Sleep Deprived, Bullying, Comfort, Dancing, Drinking, Fake/Pretend Relationship, First Kiss, Fluff, Fluffyfest, M/M, Modern Era, Old Friends, School Reunion, So Its not exactly pretend-, Some Humor, Tom's old friends are bullies, Why isn't Susan a character???, a little angsty, but they both like each other
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-25
Updated: 2021-01-25
Packaged: 2021-03-12 06:55:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,161
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28756242
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/IknewIhadit/pseuds/IknewIhadit
Summary: Apparently, it isn't acceptable to bring your bass as a date, I guess Tord will have to do.
Relationships: Tom/Tord (Eddsworld)
Kudos: 18





	Kiss Me Under The Artificial Lighting

**Author's Note:**

> Not exactly an AU, basically Tord never blew up their house, and never left, otherwise, everything's the same.
> 
> Also, they went to different High Schools
> 
> Maybe this is an AU-

Tom was sitting in his room and decided to open up his email, and saw one new email, from one of his old classmates...? He clicked it open and saw, Benjamin Taveras had invited him to a high school reunion. 

"Hello, dear Classmates,

It's been a hot minute since I've seen you guys! So, I have helped to set up our high school reunion! You are allowed to bring your bf/gf/husband/wife But please don't bring any children! There will be alcohol and it will be running very late at night! So, McKenna, I suggest you hire a babysitter 😅 

It will be at Bradford High, aka ✨Hell✨ On January 29th, Starting at 4:30 PM, and running until we get shut down 😎 

Anyway, I hope to see you all very soon! And you aren't required to bring a date unless you made a bet, you know who you are *Cough* _TOM_! *Cough* See You all very soon🥺🥰

-Benjamin T" 

Tom groaned, he fucking hated Benjamin, and now the dickhead was going to make him stick with a bet he made in high school!? This was just plain dumb. How in the world was Tom, Tom of all people going to find a date to go to a crappy high school reunion with on such short notice, and he doubted he could pass Susan off as his date. He sat on his bed, glaring at the stupid email, from Stupid Benjamin, although he will admit, the part about McKenna did make him laugh a little, but still he had one week to find a date, or else he was in trouble... 

  
  


Somebody knocked on his door

"Tooooommm!"

Tom laid down, recognizing the accent, of course, it was Tord, today was just not a good day to be Tom. 

"Tommmm, I know you're in thereeeeeee," he called out to him in a sing-songy voice.

Tom groaned and glared at the door 

"What do you want commie?" 

Tord scoffed "I don't know, I'm bored, annoying you felt like a good option!"

  
  


Tom laughed a little, he was good at being annoying, that's for sure

"Can I come in?" 

Tom quickly closed his laptop and put it on his nightstand 

"Yeah, whatever..."

Tord smiled and flung open the door, before coming in, and plopping down next to Tom on his bed

"I'm bored, what are we doing?"

Tom glared at him " _We_ aren't doing anything."

Tord looked at him with big puppy dog eyes "Please Tom, I'm boreddddddd" 

Tom was quiet for a moment as if he was thinking. "Fine, What do you want to do?"

Tord was quiet or a moment

"I don't know...We could watch you lose at a board game!"

"I don't always lose!"

"Of course, whatever you say, Wanna play Settlers of Catan?"

Tom smiled, glad that he had chosen a game that was more based on luck rather than strategy, although it was always a good idea to have some sort of strategy.

"Sure"

Tord smiled, standing up, and left to get the game box

Tom sighed, and grabbed his laptop, and reread the message, before going back into his inbox, Oh, Yay! another message from a classmate

"Hey, Tommee! Remember that bet we made? I know you do! See ya at the school reunion, And your 'special friend' 

-Jared"

He laid back down, and sighed, not sure how he wanted to deal with the situation...

"Tom! What color do you want to be?"

Tord was back, and he was holding a dusty box, smiling at Tom, and walked toward him, setting the box on his nightstand, and glancing at his computer screen 

"Who's Jared?" 

Tom groaned, and glared at the screen, closing his laptop, annoyed. 

"Some dickhead that I used to be friends with, He wants me to go to our high school reunion."

Tord smiled and laughed at him a little "So you're going right?"

Tom glared at him "No. Why would I? And besides, he's holding me to some old bet we made..."

Tord smirked at him "What's the bet?"

Tom crossed his arms, pouting, and didn't say anything 

Tord shrugged and yanked his laptop away from him 

"Hey! Give that back!" Tom yelped and tried to grab it out of his hands

Tord stood up, and held the laptop above him, using his height to his advantage, and watched as Tom crawled off his bed, jumping trying to get it back. 

"Tord! Give it back!" He whined and clawed at his arms, trying to get his laptop back. 

Tord laughed and pushed Tom aside, reading the emails, before closing the laptop, and handing it back to Tom, smirking. 

"So, Who are you taking with you?" 

Tom closed his laptop, and put it away, looking down. 

"Nobody. I'm not going." 

Tord seemed surprised and sat next to him "Why not?, Aren't those type of things supposed to be fun?"

Tom huffed and glared at him, grumbling "If it seems so exciting, why don't you just go for me" Tom stopped and looked at Tord, realizing what he had just said, and cleared his throat. "Um, Tord..." 

Tord Glared at him and shook his head. "Nuh-uh, Don't tell me you want _me_ to go as your date-"

Tom sighed and stood back up. "Please, Tord! It's just one night!" 

Tord looked at him one last time, before walking to the door of Tom's room "You have one week to convince me." 

Tom groaned, well, at least he had sorta found somebody willing to go with him, now he just had to convince Tord that this was a good idea, that was going to be the hard part. He laid back down, he was most definitely _not_ looking forward to this. 

* * *

Tom wandered into the kitchen 

"Hi, Tom!" 

Tom turned his head and frowned at Matt, "Uh, Do you need something?"  
  
Matt smiled and nodded "Tord said you're taking him to a school reunion, or something like that" 

Tom looked at him, trying to tell if he was being serious or not, although with Matt it was always hard to tell "What exactly did he say...?" 

Matt stopped and was quiet for a minute as if he had to think about what Tord had said to him, and started whispering "He said I wasn't supposed to tell you..." he trailed off, playing with a thread hanging off his hoodie. Tom grumbled annoyed that he wasn't getting anywhere "Thanks for _all_ your help Matt" He added sarcastically Matt beamed "Aww! Thanks, Tom!" Tom went into the living room, abandoning Matt, and sat down on the couch, flicking on a random show, not really paying attention to what it was, figuring it would be a good distraction, and he slowly fell asleep.

* * *

Tom woke up something messing around with his hair, and he followed his instincts and batted whatever it was away, not bothering to open his eyes. Tord smiled a little and kept messing with his hair. Tom, who was still half asleep, kept batting at Tord's hand, grumbling "Stop doing that." 

Tord smirked, and kept doing what he was doing "Nahhh, your hair's fluffy, I think I'll stay like this for a while" 

Tom opened his eyes after hearing Tord's voice and saw Tord sitting on the couch next to him, with a hand tangled up in his hair. Tom tried to sit up, but it was hard with Tord's hand holding him down. "Move your hand." 

Tord smiled and ruffled his hair, before pulling his hand away, smiling slightly. Tom sat up, glaring at him. "What the hell was that about?!" Tord shrugged, and wiggled his eyebrows at him "Nothing!" 

Tom sighed, annoyed when he realized what Tord was doing, he knew if Tom wanted him to go with him to the school reunion, then he could get away with messing with him like this. Tom muttered annoyed, "You're an asshole" 

Tord smiled, and glanced over at him "Yep! Don't you just _love_ me?" he asked playfully.

Tom blushed a little and tried to avoid his gaze, embarrassed

Tord gently shook his shoulder "Tom...? You alright? You were spacing out..." 

Tom looked up into Tord's big gray eyes and nodded slowly "Yeah...I'm fine" 

Tord nodded but didn't seem like he believed him. "Okay, if you say so" He ruffled Tom's hair before he stood up, and walked upstairs. 

Tom glanced at the time and smiled weakly, 9:52 PM It was almost time for him to go to bed, he was fairly tired, and looking for an excuse to get away from everybody, as he was still a little shaken up by how flirty Tord had been acting earlier, but at the same time, he couldn't say he didn't like it either. He just couldn't get Tord off his mind as he walked back to his room, wondering for a second how the day had gone by so quickly as he climbed into his bed.

* * *

Tom opened his eyes tiredly, and stared at the ceiling, contemplating if he should stay in bad, or go downstairs and have breakfast, he figured he would go downstairs in a few minutes. 

He grabbed his laptop, making sure he didn't have any new emails from his old classmates, thankfully he didn't and he closed the lid of the computer and went downstairs. 

Edd smiled at him "G'morning Tom, I made breakfast!" 

Tom smiled a little, he wouldn't deny that Edd was a great cook "Thanks Edd" He took a seat at the kitchen table and quickly looked away when Tord started making faces at him. Tord smirked, and leaned in closer to him, whispering "What's wrong Tom? Flustered?" 

Tom blushed more, and kicked him under the table, mumbling "Stop that!" Tord smiled "Stop What?" He asked innocently, "I mean _You_ were the one who just kicked _me_." Tom pouted, still refusing to look at him. Edd glanced over his shoulder, before turning to look at the two of them "What's going on with you two?" Tord's face reddened, and he sat back down, creeping away from Tom. Edd rolled his eyes smiling, "Whatever, I made waffles!"  
Matt smiled "Yay! Waffles!" Edd smiled and brought them a plate of waffles before sitting down and glancing between Tom and Tord, before taking a bite of his waffle. 

Tord gently nudged Tom's leg under the table, smiling slightly when Tom nudged him back. 

They continued their little game for most of breakfast until Tom didn't nudge him back, Tord looked up at him like 'You good man?' Tom squirmed, uncomfortable, he had gotten his for stuck in the bottom of Tord's chair, but he just nodded stiffly. Tord raised an eyebrow, not convinced, and glanced down, before looking back up at him with concern. Edd, who had been watching the two of them sighed, "What's going on?" He asked, a hint of annoyance present in his voice. 

Tom looked down and mumbled something, Edd looked at him, "Could you please speak up, Tom?" Tom looked up at Tord, and muttered nervously "I got my foot stuck" both Edd and Matt stared at him, concern mixing on their faces "H-How did you manage that?!" He didn't seem annoyed anymore, mostly just worried. Tom gave a small shrug "I don't know, I was just messing around with Tord and..." He trailed off, embarrassed. 

Edd looked between them, and hopped off his chair to see what happened, and couched down close to the floor, and sighed, not even wanting to know how this had happened. Tord slid off his chair and hugged Tom in an attempt to calm him down, whispering "Don't worry, you'll be fine..." Tom nodded and melted into the hug, grumbling "Of course I'll be fine" Tord laughed a little and smiled down at him. 

Edd was still sitting on the floor, trying to figure out how to free Tom's foot. 

Tom wrapped his arms around Tord's neck, not wanting to let go of him. Tord laughed at him a little and ruffled his hair "You are such an idiot." Tom stuck his tongue out at Tord. 

Edd grabbed his ankle and tried to pull his foot out from between the two slats of wood, grumbling when he couldn't get it out.

Tord sighed, and put his head on top of Tom's mumbling, "Sorry..." Tom smiled, and laughed a little"At least now I have a valid excuse to not go to the school reunion!"

Edd looked up surprised "You were going to go to that?" 

Tom shrugged, and rubbed the back of his neck "Yeah, I guess I was..."

Edd laughed a little "But don't you hate those type of things?"

Tom nodded "Yeah, but one of my old 'friends' is passively-aggressively bullying me into going to it because we made a dumb bet..."

Edd nodded slowly before asking "What was the bet?" 

Tom sighed looking down, "That I could get a 'special friend' before him..."

Edd tried not to laugh "Then why bother going? No offense, but your the most single person I've ever met..."

Tom nodded, and glanced at Tord for a moment "I was actually hoping to go with Tord..." He mumbled looking down, blushing, embarrassed. 

Edd raised his eyebrows, and smirked, making an "Oooohh" sound.

Tord flipped him off, and muttered, with a hint of sadness in his voice "We'd just be pretending, there's nothing between us..."

Tom sighed quietly and silently wished that they didn't have to pretend, that it could be real, even if it was just for one night...

Edd nodded, not quite convinced as the two of them had been acting rather... differently towards each other the past few days.

* * *

The next few days went by rather quickly, and it almost seemed as if they were all just the same day, all blurring into one giant day since not much was changing over the course of those 5 days. Tom and Tord casually flirted with each other, Edd's suspicion grew, and Matt, well Matt really didn't seem to give a shit about Tom and Tord's relationship. 

Finally, it was the 29th, the night of the school reunion, and Tom was laying in bed wearing a ratty old blue hoodie and jeans, and he was contemplating sending Jared a "Fuck You." When he heard a knock on his bedroom door, and Tom glanced up, uninterested. 

Tord sighed and let himself in, and sat next to Tom. "What are you doing? Aren't you supposed to go to that school thing with me in an hour?"

Tom looked up at him and realized he was serious. "Uh, yeah, J-just give me a minute or two..." He stood up, but he couldn't stop staring at Tord, and then it occurred to him. He had never seen Tord dressed up, huh, weird. 

Tord looked at him, and laughed a little, standing up "I'll give you a minute" 

Tom nodded and glanced at his closet, frowning. he grabbed a grey shirt, and a checkered tie, calling it good enough, before stepping out of his room to meet Tord. 

Tord smiled and grabbed his hand, "You ready to go, babe?" He asked, playfully, smiling. Tom nodded, and intertwined their fingers, blushing slightly. 

* * *

Tom looked up at the door of his old school, he wasn't so sure he still wanted to do this, he didn't want to be here, and have to see Jared again, it was bad enough seeing him when he actually went to high school, now he had to spend multiple hours with Jared, and prove Tord to be his 'boyfriend' He took a deep breath and got out of the car, standing next to Tord, and bit his lip, nervously. 

Tord noticed the worried look on Tom's face and wrapped his arm around his shoulders "Hey, you wanna go home...? We don't have to be here if you don't want to be"   
Tom smiled a little, glad that Tord was being so nice to him. "Yeah, I think I'll stay, for a little while at least. I wanna prove Jared wrong." 

Tord smiled at him and started walking toward Bradford High, keeping his arm around Tom, and gently drummed his fingers on Tom's shoulder as he used his other hand to pull open the old creaky door. 

Tom glanced down the row of lockers, noticing some of his old peers, smiling a little, after all not _all_ of them were assholes. 

Tord smiled down at him, glad that he seemed happy "Recognize any of these weir-" He was cut off by a tall girl with long curly hair

"TOMMEE!!" 

Tom glanced up at her, "Hey, Martha!" 

Martha rushed over to the two of them, and threw her arms around Tom, smiling "Tom! It's been a * _hic_ * been a while!"   
Tom smiled and laughed at her "I forgot how much confidence alcohol gives you" Tord laughed a little, and smiled at them, assuming they used to be friends.

Martha giggled and pointed at Tord "W-Who's thisssss?" 

Tord pulled Tom closer to him "I'm Tom's boyfriend, I'm assuming you were one of his friends?" 

Martha nodded "Yep! P-* _hic*_ Practically almost a-all his other f-friends were du- * _hic_ _*_ dummies" 

Tom stared at Martha, muttering "How much have you had to drink...?"

Martha looked up, and shrugged "Oh, I don't k-* _hic_ * know! Somebody sp-* _hic_ * spiked the punch bowl!" 

Tom nodded, and glanced at her "Are you going to be able to drive home later?" 

Martha nodded, "Yeahhhhhhhh, I'll j-* _hic_ * Just stoOOop drinking for a little, s-* _hic_ * sober up, ya know?" 

Tom smiled, nodding slightly "Good luck with that" 

Martha nodded, and waved at them, before stumbling over to the bleachers in the gym, needing to sit down. 

Tord smiled down at Tom, wrapping both his arms, whispering "Hear that? I'm your boyfriend now!" 

Tom blushed and looked down, mumbling into his chest "S-shut up!" Tord laughed, smiling down at him, and ruffled his hair. "I bet all your old friends are going to love me!" Tom laughed a little, "Nope. They're all going to hate you." 

Tord smiled and rolled his eyes, "You wanna go find Jared?" 

Tom glanced away, because honestly- He didn't even really want to be in the same room as Jared, but he only replied, "Not right now" and started fidgeting, playing with a loose thread that was hanging off his shirt. 

Tord nodded and took his hand, dragging him towards the punch bowl, and grabbed a handful of pretzels, stuffing them into his mouth. 

Tom smiled at him a little and grabbed a cookie, happily munching on it, while leaning onto Tord. 

Tord gazed down at him, smiling slightly, just enjoying the moment, because, in the back of his mind, he knew it wouldn't last... 

Tom heard a deep, rather sinister-sounding laugh, and looked up, already knowing who it was, Jared. 

Jared walked toward the two grinning "Hello Tomothy!" 

Tord looked up at him, and it took him a minute to realize that 'Tomothy' was a combination of the names Tom and Timothy. 

Tom started walking toward Jared, dragging his feet, "Hi Jared..."  
Jared smiled, "Long time no see Tomothy, Sooooo where's your friend?"

Tom looked down and mumbled something, embarrassed. 

Jared laughed, "I couldn't hear that, mind saying it again?"

Tom looked up, glancing at Tord, pointing "That's Tord"

Jared rolled his eyes and laughed, "I meant where's your girlfriend Tomothy"

Tord laughed and walked up behind Tom, wrapping his arms around him, "Who needs a girlfriend when they have me?" Tom blushed with how close Tord was getting, and how his hands were keeping a tight grip on him. 

Jared stared at the two "T-That's very funny Tom... Where's your g-girlfriend?" 

Tom leaned back into Tord's touch, letting out a small sigh of annoyance "I don't have one, Jared."

Jared laughed, relieved, "Great! That means That you owe me a-" He was cut off by Tord "You said 'special friend', not girlfriend, there is a difference" He said, glaring at Jared.

Tom smiled and stayed quiet, relaxing slightly in Tord's arms

Jared gritted his teeth, "But I _meant_ a girlfriend! Not some weird _guy_ " 

Tom looked up at Tord, knowing he was getting mad at Jared "You say that as if I'm undesirable, and I have no idea why." 

Jared rolled his eyes "I- I'm just surprised... I mean Tom's gay!" He started laughing "Imagine What your mother would say if she could see you like this Tom!" 

Tom's face darkened, and he tried to hide, trying to disappear into Tord's chest, clearly upset. 

Tord noticed that he seemed upset and sighed pulling him closer into him, and slowly taking him away from Jared 

Tom tried to pull away from him, and swiped at his face, looking down, and mumbled "I'm fine Tord." Tord sighed, but kept his distance, looking down at him. "Alright... If you say so"

Tom abandoned Tord, and headed toward the bathroom, willing himself not to cry. He stared into the mirror, glaring at himself, muttering to himself, realizing that his crush on Tord was, _hopeless_. He slowly sunk to the floor, burying his head in his knees, tears now rolling down his face. He knew Jared was right, like always. He knew exactly what his mother would've said if she had seen how Tord was holding him, and Jared knew what she would've said too. 

The bathroom door creaked, as Tord opened it, and glanced around before sighing, he hated seeing Tom upset. He walked over to where he was, and sat down next to him, wordlessly. Tom peeked his head up from his knees and looked at Tord, not sure what to say, so he scooted closer to him, and wrapped his arms around Tord's neck, as he gently cried into his chest. Tord put his arms around him, hugging him as He mumbled reassurances into Tom's ear, holding him as he cried. 

Tom slowly sat up, pulling himself off of Tord, and wiped away the last of his tears. Tord smiled at him weakly but didn't move, not wanting to upset him. Tom was quiet for a moment before reached for Tord's hand, Tord said nothing but gently took Tom's hand in his. 

Tom stood up, pulling Tord up with him smiled at him gently, mumbling "Thank you..." Tord nodded, and glanced at the door, waiting to see if Tom was ready to go out, or not. Tom smiled, "I want to beat the shit out of Jared." Tord grinned, "I'll help you with that if you like!" Tom wandered seemed happy and left the bathroom, still holding Tord's hand, not quite sure where he was headed, still dragging Tord behind him. 

Tom stopped in the old high school gym and gazed up at Tord, happily, dropping his hand. Tord smiled down at him, a light blush dusting his cheeks. Tom shuffled closer to him, and laid his head on Tord's chest, mumbling "Dance with me."Tord smiled, and laughed a little, thinking he was cute, and wrapped his arms around him, gently swaying across the old gym.

* * *

Tom eventually got lost in the music, leaning into Tord, quietly humming along, despite not knowing the song.   
  


I'll be better than I was before

  
Despite every text of yours ignored

  
Will you call me still?

  
Just to hear my voice, I swear

  
Always, I'll care

Tord gazed down at him, a gentle smile on his face, as he brought his fingers up to Tom's chin, bringing him back to attention "Wh-What are you doing..?" Tom mumbled softly, looking up at him. Tord gave him a lopsided smile as he put a finger to his lips, shushing Tom, as his other hand cupped his cheek, gently mumbling "Just let me try something..." Tom gave a small nod of his head, not sure what Tord was planning to do to him. Tord's thumb gently stroked his cheek, as he shuffled closer to him, and leant down, gently pressing his lips onto Tom's. 

Tom was surprised at first, but didn't pull back, for a few seconds he was just letting Tord kiss him before his eyes fluttered shut, and he kissed back, his hands reaching for the back of Tord's neck, letting his fingers play with his long, silky hair. 

Tord slowly pulled away from him, and gazed down at Tom, "Who would've thought an old crusty high school gym would be so romantic?" Tom giggled, and shuffled closer to Tord "Can we just go home now?" Tord nodded, and led him out of the gym, stopping by Jared, 

"Oh look, it's the freaks" Jared shouted, pointing at the two of them. Tord rolled his eyes, glaring at him, "Where's your special friend anyway, Jared?" Jared froze, staring at them. "Excuse you! My wife was too pregnant to show up." Tom giggled, "If She's your wife, shouldn't you have a ring?" Jared stormed away angrily, glaring at them, as Tom cuddled happily into Tord's arms. 

**Author's Note:**

> So, the ending feels rushed, and it's 2 am, YAY!
> 
> I hope you enjoyed this at least, and here's a link to the song I used, always, I'll care https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l8wi4Do_SkQ


End file.
